From chili to chowder to chicken noodle, hot soup recipes to beat the winter cold

Tasty and easy to make soup to beat the chill

Copyright 2014 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Hot and tasty chowder that's just right to help warm you during the record cold.

Copyright 2014 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

CLEVELAND - As we approach some of the coldest weather in decades, here’s a little something to warm you up. Hot soup! When the weather turns frigid, nothing satisfies more than hearty, warm, deliciousness. And while these recipes are bursting with flavor, they’re also easy to make. Add a few slices of good, crusty bread and you have a complete meal that takes the chill out of the day and warms the soul. Plus, why go outside to brave the elements, when you can stay in a warm kitchen and create smiles!

The beauty of this recipe is that much of the cooking is already done for you. You’ll need a cooked rotisserie chicken from your grocery store’s prepared foods section.

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

1 rotisserie chicken, meat pulled from the bones

2 quarts chicken stock or broth

1 carrot, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

½ cup onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup heavy cream

½ teaspoon dried sage

½ teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon dried parsley

salt & pepper

2 cups cooked egg noodles.

Melt butter in a large soup pot. Add carrot, celery, onion, and garlic. Cook until soft. Add stock and chicken. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 30 minutes. Add dried herbs and simmer for 10 minutes more. Add cream and remove from heat. Add cooked noodles. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Roasting the root vegetables gives this soup a bold depth of flavor. It’s easy to prepare and tastes great. Plus, it provides a meatless option for those who have elected to follow a vegetable based diet.

Roasted Vegetable Soup

2 ½ cups potatoes, cubed

2 ½ cups carrots, sliced

2 ½ cups sweet potatoes, cubed

2 cups celery, chopped

1 large onion, quartered

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 quart vegetable broth

¼ cup apple cider or apple juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon coarse salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon dried sage

1 teaspoon dried thyme

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, celery, onion, and garlic on a cookie sheet. Drizzle vegetables with olive oil and sprinkle with the coarse salt. Roast the vegetables for 20 minutes. Bring the vegetable broth and apple cider to a boil in a soup pot. Add the roasted vegetables. Reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes. Add black pepper and dried herbs. Simmer for 10 minutes more. Remove from heat and puree soup with a hand blender or in a food processor.

As a boy growing up in the Portage Lakes area of northeast Ohio, fish was often on the menu. Bass, perch, crappie, catfish, and bluegill were bountiful and easy to catch. While all you need to make this recipe is a flaky, white fish, it’s inspired by a soup my mother made with the fish we’d catch. It’s rich and great on a cold winter day.

Brown the bacon in a large soup pot. Remove cooked bacon and reserve. Add butter to drippings, then add flour to form a roux. Add onion, carrots, and celery and cook for 3 minutes. Add potatoes, broth, and all of the herbs and spices and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 45 minutes. Add the fish and cream and allow to simmer for another 10 minutes. Ladle into bowls, crumble cooked bacon on top, and serve.

There’s nothing like a steaming bowl on chili on a cold, cold day. Here’s our version. It’s meaty, bold and has a real northeast Ohio twist. You can make it as spicy as you like.

Brown the meat in a large skillet. Remove meat and reserve. Add the oil to the drippings in the skillet. Add onion, bell pepper, and chipotle and cook until onion is translucent. Place all other ingredients in a large soup pot. Add the reserved meat and the onion/pepper mixture. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for at least one hour (longer would be better until the chili is thick). Serve with shredded cheddar

or Monterrey Jack, sour cream, and tortilla chips or corn bread.

Copyright 2014 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.